This website uses cookies primarily for visitor analytics. Certain pages will ask you to fill in contact details to receive additional information. On these pages you have the option of having the site log your details for future visits. Indicating you want the site to remember your details will place a cookie on your device. To view our full cookie policy, please click here. You can also view it at any time by going to our Contact Us page.

Cumbrian Seafoods to receive grant from Regional Growth Fund

15 April 2011

A North East seafood supplier has been awarded a grant from the Regional Growth Fund to help it develop additional manufacturing capacity – with the promise of more than 100 new jobs

Cumbrian Seafoods, based at Foxcover Enterprise Park at Seaham, County Durham will use the undisclosed sum to convert an existing 130,000 square feet of storage space into a new seafood manufacturing facility.

The development – which represents a further £7m investment in the site - will also highlight further Cumbrian Seafoods commitment to using green energy, with the new facility being largely powered by wind, photovoltaic cells and gas from anaerobic digestion.

Peter Vassallo, Cumbrian Seafoods Chief Executive said “We are delighted to have been recognised by the Regional Growth Fund. “ I am particularly excited by the extent to which the project is to be fuelled by green energy sources.

“ This builds on a number of initiatives that we have undertaken over the last four years to reduce our carbon footprint.

“It will be a first within our industry and highlights the importance that we attach to the environment and builds on our many years of promoting sourcing fish from responsibly managed fisheries.”

The bid is as a result of public-private sector partnership between Cumbrian Seafoods and County Durham Development Corporation and CDDC Managing Director, Stewart Watkins, said he was “delighted” at the company’s success.

“It’s very satisfying to see one of County Durham’s flagship companies being recognised and supported in this way,” he said.

“This grant will allow this already very successful business to develop further which can only be good for the region as a whole and of course it will also provide a great boost to the local jobs market in an area which sorely needs new employment opportunities.”

Cumbrian Seafoods established its Seaham site in 2007 where it manufactures a range of prepack seafood products for the UK’s major retailers.

The company has already invested over £20 million in the facilities which are seen as industry leading and employs 500 staff.

MOST VIEWED...

Controlling the temperature of food across the whole supply chain is vital to extend shelf life. But how much can be gained by food manufacturers through careful monitoring at all process stages?Full Story...

Over the past 10 years Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B InBev) has grown its global distribution network using a strategy which goes against the grain for traditional brewery specifications. In place of cost and time intensive permanent structures, it has adopted a design-driven approach in partnership with Herchenbach, a manufacturer of temporary buildings and semi-permanent warehouses. Full Story...